GREEN BAY – The Packers led from the opening drive of the game and hung on for a 27-19 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs on Sunday night at Lambeau Field.
It was Green Bay's third straight victory to even its record at 6-6. The Chiefs fell to 8-4.
The Packers scored the first two times they had the ball and held the Chiefs to two field goals on their first two drives for a 14-6 halftime score. Kansas City scored to open the second half, but the Packers stopped the two-point conversion to stay in the lead, 14-12.
Green Bay added a third touchdown on a pass to WR Christian Watson against an all-out blitz, and the Chiefs answered with another score to make it 21-19.
After the Packers added a field goal, CB Keisean Nixon intercepted Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, leading to another Green Bay field goal for an 8-point lead. The Chiefs got one final drive with just over a minute left and reached the Green Bay 33-yard line, but Mahomes' Hail Mary on the game's final play fell incomplete.
For the Packers, QB Jordan Love was 25-of-36 for 267 yards with three TDs, no INTs and a 118.6 passer rating. Watson had seven catches for 71 yards and two TDs before leaving the game late with a hamstring injury. WR Romeo Doubs added four catches for 72 yards, and TE Ben Sims had the other TD catch, the first of his career.
RB AJ Dillon had 18 carries for 73 yards, and RB Patrick Taylor added 29 on two rushes.
For the Chiefs, Mahomes was 21-of-33 for 210 yards, one TD, one INT and a 79.1 rating. RB Isiah Pacheco had 18 carries for 110 yards and a score, while TE Travis Kelce had four catches for 81 yards and WR Rashee Rice had eight receptions for 64 yards.
Here's a recap of all the action:
Packers lead Chiefs 7-3 after first quarter
Kansas City won the opening coin toss and deferred. The Packers used all five of their receivers, three tight ends, two running backs and had Royce Newman report eligible during a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive to start the game.
Jordan Love completed 6-of-6 passes for 45 yards, including a 7-yard pass to Dontayvion Wicks off a third-and-4 slant. A 19-yard pass to Christian Watson was the longest play on the series, while AJ Dillon carried the ball seven times for 30 yards and converted an early third down.
The Packers took a 7-0 lead over the Chiefs on a 1-yard pass to Ben Sims off a play-action pass on the goal line out of a formation in which Newman joined Dillon, Sims, tight end Tucker Kraft and fullback Henry Pearson.
The 7-minute, 47-second series was the Packers' longest offensive scoring drive of the season. Per Elias, the Packers are the first team in the Super Bowl era to have three rookie tight ends catch a touchdown pass (Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft and Sims).
Kansas City moved down the field on its next series, pushing the ball to the Green Bay 5 before Lukas Van Ness sacked Mahomes for a loss of eight yards.
Two plays later, Kenny Clark and Rashan Gary combined on a third-down sack of Mahomes to force the Chiefs to settle for a Harrison Butker 34-yard field goal that cut Green Bay's lead to 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Packers lead Kansas City 14-6 at halftime
The Packers opened the second quarter with a play-action pass to Kraft for 19 yards. James Robinson was the running back on the play, meaning every skill-position player saw an offensive snap.
Dontayvion Wicks then caught a 27-yard pass off a deep play-action pass from Love. Green Bay moved into the Kansas City red zone with a 9-yard pass to Kraft on the next play.
Dillon gained nine yards on back-to-back carries. Love's streak of nine consecutive completions ends on an incomplete pass to Watson on second-and-5, but he avoided pressure and delivered a 9-yard TD pass to Watson to push the Packers' lead to 14-3 with 10:39 left in the first half.
Through the first two series, Watson completed 10 of 11 passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns (147.5 passer rating).
The Chiefs drove down the field again on their second possession, but Green Bay once again shut Kansas City down in the red zone.
The Chiefs advanced to the Packers' 8 before a holding penalty on Creed Humphrey and a Preston Smith third-down sack forced Kansas City to settle for another 34-yard Butker field goal to cut Green Bay's lead to 14-6 with 2:19 left in the first half.
The Packers converted the initial first down on their third possession with a 9-yard pass to Watson on third-and-3, improving to 4-for-4 on third down in the first half.
Third-year running back Patrick Taylor broke a career-long, 24-yard run to the Kansas City 32, bringing the clock down to 32 seconds in the half. That's as far as Green Bay would get as Daniel Whelan would punt with 18 seconds left in the half from the Packers' 39. Ford downed it at the Kansas City 3.
Packers lead Chiefs 21-12 after three
The second half began with the announcement Kansas City linebacker Drue Tranquill was out with a concussion.
Patrick Mahomes opened with a 21-yard pass to Travis Kelce across the middle, but the Chiefs gave 15 yards back in back-to-back penalties, a holding call and illegal motion.
Kansas City converted a third-and-18 situation with Mahomes stepping up and hitting Kelce for 27 yards to keep the drive going.
The Chiefs scored on a 1-yard Pacheco TD run but still trailed 14-12 with 9:39 left in the third quarter after a failed two-point conversion.
After starting at Green Bay 33, Love hit Dillon underneath for 14 yards to open the Packers' fourth series. Chiefs safety Bryan Cook was injured on the play and carted to the locker room.
Green Bay faced fourth-and-1 after an 8-yard pass to Jayden Reed. Operating off play-action, Doubs looked in a 33-yard pass from Love and held onto the ball despite a safety bearing down on him.
Kansas City sent the house on second-and-11 and Love had just enough time to loft a 12-yard pass up for Watson, who pulled down his second TD of the evening to push the Packers ahead 21-12 with 5:23 left in the third quarter.
The quarter ended with the Chiefs at the Packers' 2-yard line.
Packers close out Kansas City 27-19, improve to 6-6
The Chiefs started the fourth quarter with Mahomes hitting tight end Noah Gray for a 2-yard touchdown on third-and-goal to cut Green Bay's lead to 21-19 with 14:51 left in regulation.
The Packers gained two first downs, including back-to-back passes to Watson, but the drive stalled following a delay of game penalty and Green Bay was forced to punt with 11:36 remaining.
The Packers' defense forced the three-and-out, though, after holding Isiah Pecheco to a 2-yard gain on first down. Green Bay took over at its 23 with 10:41 left.
The Packers converted on second-and-16 with a 28-yard pass to Doubs on a corner route. Green Bay then ran a double reverse to Watson for 13 yards to the Kansas City 43.
After Dillon gained 10 yards on a draw up the middle, Love connected with Malik Heath a short stop route that the rookie receiver took up field for 15 yards.
After Love was sacked on third down, Anders Carlson drilled a 40-yard field goal to extend the Packers' lead to 24-19 with 6:03 remaining.
Kansas City moved to the Packers' 49 following a defensive pass interference penalty, but Keisean Nixon intercepted Mahomes on a pass intended for Moore and returning it to the Packers' 35.
Green Bay opened with a 7-yard pass to Doubs in the flat and converted the first down with a 6-yard Dillon run up the middle. A 9-yard screen to Wicks and a Love sneak off a third-and-1 push moved the ball the KC 41, causing the Chiefs to use their first timeout.
Dillon gained seven yards on a first down run and Kansas City used its second timeout with 3:16 remaining. Watson picked up the first down on a reversal but was injured at the end of the play. The Chiefs used their final timeout with 3:08 left.
Two Dillon runs for four yards moved the ball to the Kansas City 20, as the game reached the two-minute warning. Love was sacked for a 10-yard loss, but Carlson made a 48-yard field goal to extend Green Bay's lead to 27-19 with 1:09 remaining.
Kansas City used a fair catch to start at its 25. Mahomes scrambled out of bounds and referee Brad Allen's crew called Owens for a late hit. Isiah Pacheco was ejected after a 10-yard pass to Rashee Rice.
The Chiefs faced fourth-and-10 from their 33 with 5 seconds left, but the Packers batted the ball down in the end zone.
